Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Daphne’s Greek Cafes are springing up all over California and Arizona offering fast Greek food. I find the food to be tasty, plentiful, and healthier than other fast-food alternatives. I probably eat at Daphne’s at least once per week. Last Thursday, I was having lunch at the Rancho Cucamonga, CA restaurant, and as I was about to dig into my Greek salad and my business associate into his gyro…I heard it. I heard it, and I heard it again, the music, comandante che guevara. The first thing that I did was to talk to the manager, who explained that the music was from a MP3 digital recording coming from the restaurant’s computer hard drive, and he had no control of the music. There were other diners in the restaurant, but no one seemed to care but me; my Cuban radar was working and it was finely tuned. I endured the entire song…comandante che guevara, no sense in getting bad digestion at utter ignorance. I returned to my office and wrote my letter to George Katakalidis, CEO & Founder of Daphne’s, and the Area Manager responded.

Dear Orlando,

Thank you for taking the time to let us know that your experience at ourrestaurant did not meet the high standards of quality we provide to ourguests. We value your comments and continue to improve the diningexperience for all of our guests through evaluation and training.

I have personally addressed your comments regarding the music through ainternet service with the Regional Director of the Company. Your opinionreally matters and won't fall on deaf ears.

Please allow us to send you a gift certificate so that we can show you ourappreciation in allowing us to correct this situation. We listencarefully to our guest comments and will take immediate actions to rectifythe situation.

John MorenoArea Manager909-319-4414

I want to publicly thank the company for responding so quickly to my concerns; they have regained my confidence and my loyalty. I hope never to hear that song again at a Daphne’s restaurant.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Could it be that 5 years after Steven Spielberg had his magical mesmerizing meeting with fidel castro, he is now regretting it. Could it be the pictures of the gaunt Guillermo Fariñas, the story about the courageous Ladies in White, the suffering in jail of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, the murder attempt on Dr. Darsi Ferrer's 5-year sold son, or could it be the monarchical ascension of catro's brother raul to the "Cuban throne." Is Spielberg finally getting it? I don't know if he is, but his defenders are out there trying to change history.

In "Fading Fidel" (Jan. 19, A17) R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. writes "After dining with him [Castro] in 2002, Steven Spielberg enthused he had just spent 'the eight most important hours of my life.' " In fact, Mr. Spielberg never said that, or anything remotely like that. I organized Mr. Spielberg's trip to Cuba, and was there with him. The purpose of the trip, authorized by the U.S. government, was to screen eight of his films for the Cuban public. He never said that, or anything else about Fidel Castro, during the trip or after. The statement is preposterous on its face. The AP and Reuters in Cuba, which covered his trip to Havana, most certainly would have used that quote if he had really said it. In fairness to Mr. Spielberg, The Washington Times should correct the record. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any further information.

Sincerely, STEPHEN RIVERS

Dear Mr. Rivers: The quote came from multiple reputable sources -- the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, the Dallas Morning News, the (New York) Daily News, and Scotland on Sunday, to name a few -- whose accuracy we had no reason to doubt. Mr. Spielberg was criticized for his visit to Cuba by his colleague, Robert Duvall. Mr. Spielberg's contention he was originally misquoted by Cuba's state-run press has been less widely circulated. What has not been disputed is that Mr. Spielberg dined and talked with the dictator for hours, allowing himself to be used by a cruel regime for its public relations purposes. I'm willing to take your word for it that Mr. Spielberg was misquoted. Perhaps such misunderstandings can be avoided in the future by refusing to be used by ruthless tyrants who rely on propaganda to maintain their grip on power.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Anita nieve would like for you to know that there is nothing happening in Cuba, and whatever was going to happen with the departure of the dictator has already happened.

About the only thing different in Cuba is that its government, instead of being led by a single person, is handled by a group. Raul Castro heads a collective leadership guided by the same Communist Party his older brother extolled during a nearly half-century in power.

"These guys know what they are doing. They are prepared to lead Cuba without Fidel," said Marifeli Perez-Stable of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington think tank. "The country, in the short run, is not going to collapse." [MORE]

Today, Val writes that upon reviewing his referrer logs he has noticed a number of worlwide searches based on the death of Hugo Chavez and that of fidel castro. However, no such luck. A Spanish website reports that internet surfers should be awared of a Trojan virus showing up in e-mails, with the heading "Fidel Castro is dead" or "Hugo Chavez is dead."

Friday, January 19, 2007

There are several reasons why a colostomy may be needed, but here is one that I found particularly interesting. A colostomy may be needed to divert intestinal contents in conditions such as imperforate anus (absense of anal opening). That explains very clearly why fidel castro was so apt to giving 4 and 6 hour speeches...la mierda tiene que salir por alguna parte.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Sunday, January 07, 2007

I recall that it was 1964 or so, I was 5 years old, when LosTres Reyes Magos started to become rather stingy. It seemed that with every passing year, my list was simply being ignored, and the things that I asked for kept going missing. Something was wrong! By 1970 when my family was told to leave the country, the Wise Men of East were nothing but a distant memory, they were no more. It seems that there is a resurrection of some kind in Cuba, and Magos are coming back, the people are remembering, and the government is worried.

In a two-page spread, the JuventudRebelde reported on the revival of "Three Kings Day," a Latin American tradition of giving gifts to children on Jan. 6, commemorating the arrival of three wise men who offered the newborn Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

"A tradition that seemed extinct in Cuban society rises again," the state-run newspaper said. "Although no one sees celebrating the millennial festivity of the Three Kings as heresy, the danger could be in (the holiday) accentuating consumerist habits and social differences."

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Monday, January 01, 2007

The way I look at rumors is that they are created until someone proves that they are just that, a rumor. Well here is the latest, it seems that the good Dr. José Luis García Sabrido the Spanish specialist who flew to Cuba in a chartered flight to see the cadaver in Adidas may have returned to Spain with additional cargo. I am not sure about the veracity of the following report, but here it is anyway: